


the best question

by animalstyleu



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-10
Updated: 2014-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-16 22:16:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2286372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animalstyleu/pseuds/animalstyleu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sehun's relationship with Jongin, for as much of his life as he can remember, has been mostly based on a series of questions that aren't really questions; statements of belonging that don't leave much room for debate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the best question

Sehun's relationship with Jongin, for as much of his life as he can remember, has been mostly based on a series of questions that aren't really questions; statements of belonging that don't leave much room for debate. It starts somewhere in the late 1990's, when, to Sehun, Jongin is merely another five-year-old in his class; though Sehun easily identifies him as that kid who gets so excited for nap time that he can never actually get to sleep.  
  
"Be my bus buddy?" The question catches Sehun slightly off guard, mainly because there's a tiny hand encircling his equally tiny wrist, and two big brown eyes implore him to say yes just as strongly as the grip on his arm does.  
  
There's no real reason for Sehun to decline. He knows he has to have a buddy anyway, and as he glances around the emptying classroom, he figures he won't get a better offer any time soon.  
  
"Okay," he replies, shrugging noncommittally as Jongin's hand slips from his wrist to tug at Sehun's, leading him down the hallway to where the rest of the little students are already lining up outside the door.  
  
  
  
  
  
The next question that Sehun can distinctly remember comes many years later, when, if Sehun's honest, Jongin is still really just another kid in his class. It doesn't sound hugely important on paper, but the memory is clear in his mind.  
  
A hand much bigger than it had been ten years prior fits itself around Sehun's wrist, and this time the question is spoken with such little inflection, he's almost positive it's a demand.  
  
"Be my lab partner."  
  
This time, Sehun almost says no. He actually already had a partner in mind (he's been trying to make nice with this Chinese exchange student who already seems to be climbing the social ladder quite quickly for someone still speaking in his home language half the time - and no, it's not because Sehun thinks he's really fucking hot). But when he looks up, the same pair of eyes are boring into him, almost as if asking for a commitment much beyond science class partnership, and it entirely entices Sehun.  
  
Before he can really think about it, Sehun's mouth opens almost involuntarily. "Okay," he says, and the smile he receives in return is damn near blinding.  
  
  
  
  
  
The third question Sehun deems important enough to file into his memories is a little sooner than the last.  
  
Sehun is eating lunch in the high school courtyard, enjoying the spring warmth, waiting for Jongin, as has become routine over the last two years. He winces as he hears a girl across the grass screech. Sehun looks over and almost vomits when he sees the girl nearly leap into some guy's arms, clutching flowers as the boy sports a hideous snapback with the word _Prom?_  stitched into it. Sehun rolls his eyes and is about to return to his sandwich when fingers softly curl around his wrist, ever so gently.  
  
He looks up to see Jongin, who immediately averts his eyes, seemingly hesitant as he appears to choose his next words carefully, almost mouthing them out, although Sehun cannot read his lips.  
  
Jongin takes a deep breath before turning his head to look at Sehun. If Sehun were paying a little more attention, he'd notice the tiny tremor of Jongin's free hand. If Sehun were paying a little more attention, he'd hear the hammering of Jongin's heartbeat, ready to escape his ribs and skin and t-shirt.  
  
"Be my prom date?"  
  
This one's definitely a question, as Jongin asks it with as much uncertainty as is possible when phrasing such an inquiry. It's the question that, if Sehun really thinks about it, surprises him the most for many reasons. He hadn't been really planning to go, let alone expecting anyone to ask him. Sehun loves social gatherings as much as the next seventeen-year-old, but the idea of a staff-supervised dance is kind of a turn off.  
  
But there is Jongin, still wavering above him, bottom lip surely bitten raw due to its current assault, and Sehun's stomach does a sort of pathetic flop at the sight.  
  
Before drawing his own bottom lip into his mouth, Sehun smiles sheepishly up at the other boy. He has to hold back a giggle. "Okay."  
  
  
  
  
  
Merely weeks later comes the next question, and this one might (might) be Sehun's favorite.  
  
Bow ties and suit jackets last about half an hour into the evening, the school cafeteria-turned-dance floor becoming too hot from sweaty teens crowded too closely together.  
  
Sehun and Jongin last about another half an hour into the evening, before both parties decide they've had enough and they ditch the prom in favor of the exchange student's party, so eloquently dubbed the "fuck prom" party ("Seriously, that Zitao has come a long way," Jongin had said after receiving invitations by word of mouth the week before the dance).  
  
The question is, as usual, preceded by a grab of the wrist, but the waiting period between grab and question extends longer than it ever has.  
  
As the pair walk side by side along the dimly lit sidewalk on their way to the party, ties hanging around their necks and jackets somewhat back in place, Jongin stops suddenly, stopping Sehun as well, as the familiar grip snakes around Sehun's wrist, finger pads pressing against his pulse point. When Sehun looks up at him, Jongin is staring at him; only Sehun can't quite see very well in the dark and he's not positive there's actual eye contact. After a pause of what feels like two whole minutes, Jongin seems to shake an idea out of his head (quite literally, as Sehun is pelted with drops of stale sweat clinging to Jongin's hair) and resumes walking. Sehun wriggles his wrist free from Jongin's grasp, somewhat forcefully, and through the dark Sehun thinks he sees panic in Jongin's eyes momentarily before Sehun's hand is returning to Jongin's, fingers threading together. And Sehun doesn't care how dark it is, he definitely sees a blush high on Jongin's cheeks. Sehun snickers.  
  
"What?" Jongin asks, defense noticeable in his tone.  
  
"I was just remembering that field trip to the petting zoo we took in kindergarten," Sehun says.  
  
"Oh yeah?"  
  
"Yeah, you wouldn't let go of my hand all day and I thought you might be the most annoying kid in the whole school. And then you fell asleep on me on the bus ride home, and I knew you were the most annoying kid in school."  
  
Jongin's hand twitches in Sehun's, and he stops walking again. Sehun is laughing. Jongin isn't. Sehun stops.  
  
Before he knows it, Sehun is being pushed up against a (very conveniently located) tree and both of Jongin's hands are on each of Sehun's wrists now. He leans in aggressively quickly, stopping just as his face is mere centimeters from Sehun's. Sehun thinks Jongin might just ravage him there and then, but then the grips on his arms loosen and Sehun hears the shakiness of Jongin's breath (or is it his own?). Sehun leans in another millimeter but Jongin doesn't close the distance.  
  
"Be my first?" and Sehun doesn't have time to answer, because Jongin is pressing his lips to Sehun's, all hints of previous aggression gone as he slowly closes his eyes. Sehun follows suit, relaxing as best as he can between Jongin and the tree, his mind clearing of most subjects that are not Jongin. After a few moments of not really doing much of kissing except for cautious movements of lips (or maybe they're simply nervous twitches), Jongin pulls back, opening his eyes, and letting go of Sehun's wrists.  
  
Not one to break tradition, Sehun bites back a grin and says, "Okay," and pulls Jongin back in by his shoulders for a better second try.  
  
  
  
  
The fifth question actually comes about twenty minutes after the fourth, when the pair have finally made it to the party. It's not really how Sehun imagined it would go down (not that he had really expected it at all).  
  
After introductions as formal as can be, given a party of high schoolers, Jongin grabs Sehun by the wrist and drags him upstairs to a bedroom conveniently pointed out by their seemingly all-knowing host.  
  
They're laying on a bed Sehun silently hopes isn't anyone's parents', sharing their now fourth kiss, which is admittedly already infinitely better than the first. Sehun's fingers tangle in soft brown hair above him as his mouth is probed by a curious exploring tongue. Jongin sucks on Sehun's bottom lip, and Sehun thinks he might like that even more than the tongue part, letting out a small gasp.  
  
Jongin pushes up, his palms pressed to the comforter either side of Sehun's head as he hovers above. He's panting as hard as Sehun is, and he licks his red, shining lips once before leaning down to kiss where Sehun's jaw meets his neck, and whispers, "Be my boyfriend?"  
  
This one's definitely a request, and Sehun feels Jongin's eyes flutter closed as he presses his forehead to Sehun's shoulder and awaits a response. Sehun thinks about toying with Jongin, humming out loud, enjoying the feeling of the crescendo of Jongin's heart beat.  
  
"Okay," he whispers back, turning his head to nose at Jongin's cheek, where he physically feels the pull of Jongin's muscles as he beams at the pillow.  
  
  
  
  
Sehun gets lots of questions from Jongin all the time. "Be my roommate?" (college-bound!) "Be my lab partner?" (again) "Be my little slut?" (okay, Sehun admits, that one's a bit embarrassing, but they're twenty-one, they're allowed to get experimental in bed) "Be my alarm clock?" (Jongin has a real job, now) but only Sehun's favorites get spots on the list.  
  
The last one on the list (for now) comes around twenty-three years after the very first. Sehun kind of hates it, actually, because when he has to tell his friends the story, no one really gets it.  
  
Jongin forces Sehun to their ten year high school reunion, claiming they only have to go for a little while, and if Sehun wants to leave, that's fine. But he has to at least try.  
  
Sehun wants to leave.  
  
Jongin says that's fine, but, "can we take a walk first?"  
  
They stroll around the neighborhood of their old high school for a few minutes before Jongin stops, clasping two hands around Sehun's wrist and pulling him off the sidewalk onto the grass, right up against a tree.  
  
"Jongin, what - " but Jongin shushes him and pushes and pulls Sehun underneath it, drawing back when he deems Sehun properly positioned, before getting down on one knee.  
  
Sehun's eyes widen and his jaw drops, but he laughs, really really hard.  
  
"Jongin, you are so disgusting," he says, watching with near horror as Jongin pulls a box out of his pocket.  
  
"I know," he says, grinning, while Sehun covers his face with his hands. "Be my husband?"  
  
Sehun groans from behind his palms, offering a very whiney, "Okay," as his smile nearly splits his face in two.


End file.
